We won first prize for the Christmas party presentation last December. We decided we wanted to eat the tasty treats from Bob’s. We instantly blew 7k on that lunch.
What do we do with the remaining 3k?
Late Musings.
The first week of 2012 has already come and gone, and the world is well on its way in the middle of the second week. I haven’t had the chance to look back on 2011 and evaluate the things that have taken place. So many things happened, all of which changed me permanently, that I feel I owe it to myself to at least provide a quick rundown of events. (This will be very brief.)
Here goes…
January - The start of the year was very busy work-wise. There was a lot of promise. Nothing stood out too much though, I was pretty much recovering from the disaster Christmas Party of 2010.
February - One word: PALAWAN. Amazeballs. The best trip I’ve ever been to. Great people, great food, great province. I fell in love with El Nido and Puerto Princesa for sure.
March - The start of the Bataan road trips with Cams. I miss that, now that I think about it.
April - Summer’s always a busy month for me. What stands out is the Holy Week road trip to Caleruega I took with Jai. That was fun and relaxing.
May - Not that eventful. Nothing really stands out. It was okay, I guess.
June - Turned 24! Chose a low-key celebration. Food trip galore. Didn’t get to spend it with my beloved barkada but it was alright.
July - Palawan Take Two. I learned who my true friends were… and who weren’t. The single most traumatic month of my entire life. It was even more traumatic than intense childhood events I went through. Still, it was a very good lesson on trust.
August - Contemplating leaving NMI. I was still trying to take in the events from July when a more traumatic aftershock followed. I did manage to restore and strengthen my friendship with someone I doubted because of the previous month’s events. OH, and I went to Surigao for the first time. FUN! The timing was perfect. I got to rest there for a week, away from everything.
September - The most difficult decision ever: turn my back on my dream to give myself and someone else peace of mind. I took a break for a month afterwards.
October - Started the real road to recovery. Got a job because I was bored and I wanted to be financially stable again. Still struggled.
November - I started regaining a sense of who I was and what I was capable of. I can say the healing process really just started this month. I was beginning to make wonderful new friends as well. Started classes as well at UPOU.
December - Hahaha hello sick month! Just like clockwork, I was rushed to the ER on Christmas week. Aside from that, my December was a happy one, and I had a quiet but fun Christmas and New Year’s celebration.
2011 wasn’t that good a year for me overall, but I’m glad because it really taught me much. Here’s hoping 2012 isn’t as tough, and that I’ll have more travel opportunities this year. I didn’t mention all my travels in the review, but I did get to travel much. I want to do it even more this year.
So. Those are my late musings. Good night.
I feel like Cinderella and the clock struck midnight, only it’s not midnight yet, there’s no glass slipper, and there’s no prince… I’m just on the outside looking in.
I spent the weekend with my cousins at their house in Provident Villages, Marikina City. On my way home with one of my cousins earlier, we took a short cut that led us straight to Riverbanks Mall. The park behind the mall and by the riverside looked absolutely beautiful to me, but I had just run out of film on my camera so I took a photo with my phone instead.
I saw this feature in Life Magazine’s website which says you don’t need a good camera for a good photo. You just need a good eye. I guess this is my attempt at it.
Everybody’s in Hallow’s Eve spirits now, and I will join soon enough. For now, allow me to fall in love over and over again with my one great love - this amazing song.
Good morning. Now I’m in the mood to get things done.
The beautiful Britania Islands during low tide. I just had to share, because I remember being there and thinking that this view was absolutely breathtaking. It still is.
I’m slowly going through all the photos. It’s always nice to look back on such pretty things.
I finally started going through the 648 photos that I have from the Surigao trip so that I can post them up for my cousins to see when I came across this shot. I initially didn’t like it because the plane was about to take off when I took this, but after post-processing it, I realized I liked it enough to share here.
Beautiful song with simple but straightforward, heartbreaking lyrics. Beautiful rendition by Adele.
Boa noite. Até logo.
Getting to Know My Roots
The past twelve months has given me many opportunities for travel, and although it has only been a month and a half since my last expedition, I’m finding myself looking for my next destination. However, I noticed that I’ve posted photos from my other trips, from Palawan to Bataan and wherever my feet have taken me in between, but I have not posted those from my most recent trip yet - a trip to my father’s hometown, Surigao del Sur.
I’ve been to beautiful places before, but this trip to Surigao last August was special because in my entire twenty-four years, that was the first time I set foot on my dad’s hometown. It was amazing, and the six days that I spent there were not nearly enough. I didn’t even get to see the one place I really wanted to see - the Tinuy-An Falls. (That will be for a later trip.) But I did get to meet a lot of my cousins that I have never met before, and I got to eat an endless supply of seafood.
The lifeguard station at Kansilad, crabs and other food galore, the dam at the Agusan river, and the grotto at Kansilad.
What really captivated me though I was not able to go to Tinuy-An and the Enchanted River was another gift from nature - the Britania Islands. Shallow, clear blue seas, white sand so fine and white it is only second to the famed sands of Palawan, the lush green of untouched flora - what more can you ask for? The entire tour cost P1,700 (and there was about twenty of us), where you get the boat that will take you to all the islands of Britania, and you get to go snorkeling as well. You also have the option of camping out in one of the islands overnight as long as you have your own camping gear and you bring food.
The walkway to the pier, “We’re flying!”, different starfish, and one of the beautiful islands of Britania
Of course, what made this trip stand out from the rest is the fact that I got to meet the side of my heritage that I have not quite had a chance to come face-to-face with: my father’s side of the family. Ever since I was little, I was surrounded by my relatives from my mother’s side, and am really close to them, and so I was surprised at how quickly my relatives warmed up to me even though most of them were seeing me in person for the first time. It was also nice to see my dad reunited with his siblings, as I’m sure he has been waiting for that moment for quite sometime now. He always talks about home and how he wants to spend his retirement at home in Lianga, and so I can only imagine his longing.
Meet (just a handful of, this is nowhere near the actual number) the Sanchez - de Castro clan!
I really hope that I can go to Davao sometime within the year to meet up with my cousins again to have adventures of our own (sans the chaperones, haha) but I can say that this trip to Surigao is one of my most memorable ever. It’s nice to get to know my roots and get to appreciate such a scenery as a bonus.
Just another Friday night with the boys. Of course, they hear the word jam and they, as tradition would have it, instantly volunteer me.
I am their guinea pig. So yes, this is me attempting an impromptu Adele. Which was very scary for me, since I’m a very huge fan and would hate to disappoint.
This is a far cry from how I would’ve liked to do it. But I did manage to make the people stop drinking/eating and watch, so I guess you can call it a success?
You decide.
